Torpedo!

Начало книги

This book is dedicated to my daughter, Judith McCartney, and my son, Charles E. Homewood TMC USN(Ret.), both of whom have made me proud to be a father.

H. H.

Duty aboard a U.S. Navy nuclear ballistic missile submarine can be boring. The days stretch out, each day the same as the one preceding it. The watches are stood, six hours on and twelve hours off. The crew sees only the interior of their ship and each other for weeks on end. Once clear of the land the nuclear submarine submerges deep into the element it has been built for and doesn’t emerge again into the world of fresh air and sunshine until the long patrol is over and the submarine is only a few miles from its home port.

The U.S.S. Sharkfin was 12 hours out of the Strait of Gibraltar on course 278 degrees true, destination New London, Connecticut. There was a subdued air of festival on board. The Sharkfin had been at sea for more than 60 days, prowling the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea, the computers in its sophisticated fire control systems clicking steadily as they constantly adjusted the firing trajectories for targeting the submarine’s 16 nuclear ICBM missiles at cities and military installations within the Soviet Union.

Читать дальше →